Creative Tidbits 1103-23

by Fred Showker

This Creative Tidbits brings more Designing Women, and some real design inspiration ... including : * Design locked in time * New book examines the Group of Seven * Passion into photography * If You Pay Peanuts, You Get Monkeys * Will Cotton: Butcher, Baker, Candyland Maker * Charlotte Strick, Book Jacket Designer * The 10 Greatest Movie Title Sequences by Saul Bass * Core77 Launches Design Awards Program ... and more!

Charlotte Strick, Book Jacket Designer

For much of her life, Charlotte Strick wanted to work in fashion, since her mother had been a fashion designer in England. But her father was a book publisher, and she ended up somewhere between the two: an art director and book jacket designer for Faber & Faber and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and the art editor and designer of The Paris Review.

Design locked in time

Gleichen artist Janet Yule will have her art locked in Strathmore's history, as her design for the centennial banner was the successful candidate. The poster, which features a mid west feel, aimed to capture the look and feel of Strathmore 100 years ago. Full story : www.strathmorestandard.com

Will Cotton: Butcher, Baker, Candyland Maker

Some critics say that the measure of good art is deciding whether or not you'd want to hang a particular piece on your wall at home. If that's the standard, artist Will Cotton sets the bar quite a bit higher - and puts a cherry on top. His candyland fantasy canvases create entire worlds that you want to dive right into - or, at the very least, nibble on. But these otherworldly paintings spring from a very down-to-earth process. One that begins with research and some unorthodox baking: it could be creating a giant cake, setting up an ice cream mountain in his shower, building a gingerbread house and deconstructing it in the rain, or molding candy ribbons into a crown. Full story : Ariston Anderson - the99percent.com

The 10 Greatest Movie Title Sequences by Saul Bass

Saul Bass achieved huge successes creating iconic logo designs for corporate America, but the graphic designer moved to film later in life. Rather than using the redundant "identification tag"-style that was commonly used for movie opening credits during the early '50s, Bass was a pioneer in modernizing opening title sequences. During his 40-year career designing for film, Bass worked with some of the most epic directors, from Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese, Otto Preminger, and Alfred Hitchcock. Full story : www.complex.com/art-design/

New book examines the Group of Seven

They worked in what now is called graphic design, preparing brochures for shipping companies, department stores and the like -in a quiet city in a quiet country a century ago. How these seven young Canadians became the hottest thing in the art world is the subject of a new book by Ross King, one of this province's most successful literary products.Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven Full story : Review: Will Chabun

Passion into photography

Michael Yang '14 wants to be vivid. He craves spunk, recognition and inspiration. As a poster designer, photographer and Meddiebempster, Yang hopes to achieve all three. He also believes that reflecting upon his pursuits is beneficial to his creative process - a revelation that dawned on him while transitioning from South Korea to the United States. Yang first tapped into his creative side in fifth grade. Frustrated that he could not draw as well as his sister, Yang turned to the digital realm and began experimenting with Photoshop. He also took photos, carrying a camera with him wherever he went. Photography attracted Yang not simply on account of its user-friendliness, but also its power to capture memories. Full story : orient.bowdoin.edu

If You Pay Peanuts, You Get Monkeys

There's been quite a bit of heated discussion in the design world in the past few years regarding speculative work and crowdsourcing via online logo design sites and contests. Professional designers are calling foul over the degradation of the traditional designer/client relationship and the threat of losing potential work from design contests that reward the few, and take advantage of the many. Contest organizers maintain that crowdsourcing design promotes a free and global market and they're simply facilitating communication between clients and potential designers while building an online creative community. Full story : Albany Times Union (blog)

Core77 Launches Design Awards Program

There's a new design award in town (and by 'town,' we mean Earth). Today our friends at Core77 are launching their own global program to celebrate outstanding creative work in 15 categories ranging from products and graphic design to DIY efforts and 'Never Saw the Light of Day,' honoring projects completed, but killed, in 2010. http://awards.core77.com/ Full story : www.mediabistro.com

Don't forget ... we encourage you to share your discoveries in the creative world of art, typography, graphics, illustration, photography, sculpture, signs, signing, logos, business graphics and visual communications. Just discuss it in the Design Cafe, or pop out an email to DTG

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